In November of 1941 ships and submarines of the Imperial Japanese Empire began leaving their home waters
in secret, destination Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and the United States Pacific Fleet. Some would sail for Singapore
and others for the Aleutians, but there was no turning back, they were going to start a war with the United
States of America and the United Kingdom. The terrible events of that day and those of the next four years are
well known, however a lesser known event will be the focus of this story.

While the carrier strike on Pearl Harbor was underway the submarine war in the Pacific began. Several
Japanese submarines were stationed in the North Pacific and as the war began, the first victim of a Japanese
submarine was sunk.

The cargo ship Coquina was launched for the U.S. Shipping Board by Manitowoc Shipbuilding on Nov. 30, 1918.
She was only 80' long and 2,140 tons, using triple expansion steam engines she could make only 10 knots.
In 1935 she was purchased by the Matson Line who kept her name. She was sold again in 1940 to Oliver J.
Olson & Company and renamed Cynthia Olson. She was charted by the U.S. Army and departed Tacoma, Washington with 33 crewmen and 2 U.S. Army personnel, destination Pearl Harbor.

Lying in wait was the Japanese submarine I-26. She had left Yokosuka in Nov. and was sent to reconnoiter the
Aleutians and report on any U.S. warships in the area. Following this the boat was ordered to a station midway
between San Francisco and Hawaii.

Dec. 2, 1941 while on station the commander of I-26 received the coded message Niitakayama nobore 1208
(Climb Mt. Niitaka, Dec 8), this signaled the attack against Pearl Harbor would take place on Dec. 8 (Japanese
time). This also meant that merchant ships flying the American flag were fair game. On Dec. 6 USAT Cynthia Olson was sighted by the I-26, however Commander Yokota Minoru of the I-26 could not attack until the following day so he set a course that would place his boat in the perfect position to engage the ship on Dec. 7. This was not difficult as the I-26, while surfaced, could make twice the speed of the Cynthia Olson.

At dawn on Dec. 7, 1941 the I-26 surfaced and fired a warning shot at the Cynthia Olson, the radio officer sent
out an SOS from position 33.42N-145.29W which was picked up on the mainland and Minoru reported seeing lifeboats being lowered, after which he began to shell the ship. Some time during the attack the Japanese commander received the signal "Tora, tora, tora!" indicating the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor had been a success. Compaired to what was going on at Pearl Harbor his attack would be easy. Since the Cynthia Olson was unarmed she would offer no resistance, however the ship herself was less than willing to become the first victim of the submarine war.

Minoru fired 18 5.5" (140mm) rounds at the ship, but she refused to sink. He then submerged and fired a
torpedo which missed as the ship was still underway. He surfaced and fired almost 30 more rounds into the ship,
but she still refused to go down. After this and with the ship burning and in sinking condition Minoru broke off
the attack concerned about being attacked himself. After he leaves the area the Cynthia Olson finally succumbed
to her wounds and sank about 1,244 miles northeast of Honolulu, the first victim of the submarine war in the Pacific.

It is unknown if any of the men on board were in the lifeboats when they were reportedly lowered, or even if
the report was true, what is known is that USAT Cynthia Olson also became the first U.S. merchantman lost with
her entire crew. The thirty-three merchant sailors and the two Army personnel were the first casualties of the submarine war in the Pacific.

Note, one source claims that the Lt. Commander Shogo Narahara and I-19 came across the survivors in the lifeboats on Dec. 8 and even gave them food and water. Because this information was obtained post war the veracity of the statement should be considered suspect.